P3D Re: Stereo Dreaming

[Bruce Springsteen <bsspringsteen@xxxxxxxxx>]

---Boris Starosta <boris@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Bruce Springsteen, in private communication:
> 
> >I'm with you Boris, that I can't really "do" stereo images in my
head,
> >but I'm not sure I do flat mental pictures all that well either -
so I
> >may be a bad case.  I do know that in some way I am getting better in

[The approximate question I asked Boris and Gabriel off-list is:  Are
mental pictures in dreams and memory a true creation (or recreation)of
a "cyclopean" stereoptic mental image, detailed and fairly stable - or
are mental pictures without current input from the eyes bound to be
fuzzy improvisational approximations without the left/right data
needed for true stereo vision?  In other words, how is visualizing a
scene different from seeing a scene, especially vis a vis stereo  -
and how might this ability vary between individuals?]   

> I do consider myself having a very good visual memory.  In caving
with a
> particular friend of mine, we always become aware of our individual
> strengths regarding navigation.  I can recognize waypoints (forks or
> intersections that have been passed before) in the appearance and
> organization of boulders, rocks, stalagtites, etc...   which can
help in
> getting us out quickly after a long day, and he is much better at
overall
> general directions in the cave
(...)
> visual memory thing is a definite trait that I have and he does not.

I am a good mental mapper and navigator as well, but I feel that skill
is more schematic, kinetic and analytical in nature, and isn't really
the pure stereo sense I'm wondering about.  It is maybe just a red
herring, yes?  

> Now that I am thinking again, remembering caves, which have a LOT of
depth
> (often too much for my nerves), I can definitely remember sensations
of
> depth along with visual memory.  But I would not call these
> stereoscopically recalled images.  The depth is simply "known" not
> perceived.

That seems right to me, but I wonder if others can do what we cannot
(or don't notice we have) done.  Stereo visual information is very
specific sensory information - parallax, disparity, etc - that is
distinct from monocular or non-visual perception.  Does it cease to
exist in our brains when we close our eyes, or is that information
stored and retrievable? 

> There was a thread in P3D earlier this year regarding early work
done with
> random dot stereograms and the visual memories of young children.  The
> claim was that left and right eye views of these patterns, given to
kids
> non contemporaneously, could later be fused in memory, with some kids
> identifying the depth image encoded in the stereogram.  Now THAT's a
> photographic memory!  That might be worth another search in the P3D
> archives...

Now THIS is astounding if true, and all my skeptical instincts are
aquiver! Does anyone either remember the source of Boris' memory, or
have some keywords they think would get me to the correct archive? 
This would seem to be conclusive proof that the brain can store
detailed stereo cues and reconstruct them in memory.  My next question
would be whether the brain can devise such mental images from
"scratch" - experiencing stereo scenes never seen in reality.

>From the Department of Useless Research, Specious Argument Division,
Wild-Eyed Speculation Committee, I remain -

Bruce (I'm not a Doctor, but I played Doctor when I was eight.)
Springsteen
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